Hobbies. Where would the computer industry be without them? Arguably, there wouldn't be a computer industry had it not been for hobbyists in the first place. The ineffable need to scratch an itch does still percolate even in this closed down world of big mainstream technology from big companies opposed to the little guy innovating. OSNews asks, what are you working on? We want to hear from you about your hobby projects (technology related or otherwise) to get a sense of what the community is cooking up for love of it, rather than because you're paid to do so. Share and enjoy!

Well, on the computer part of the world, been deciding to learn more about the Lua programming language, so I decided to make a simple game engine in C++ that the user programs only in Lua, event based. It's good enough so far, so I think I'm going to start the first small set of games with it this week.

Other than that I recently fell in love with woodwind instruments and started playing the recorder, an alto one. Not really a complex instrument, but quite pleasing to have it on the backpack to blow some tunes while bored.

You should try out LÖVE (on love2d.org). My brother, who isn't really a computer geek already madea few games using it, while learning LUA. They call it engine, but its a framework (in the FAQ they are honest about it). It's basically Lua+SDL+aphysiclib in one box. Haven't really used it myself, but the in-a-box style seems to be great, if you want to create a game really fast.